e-HR

For a long time India struggled with the problem of creating

jobs. It is still true for many sectors. Hence, the need to improve workforce

performance does not always emerge as priority number one. But now there are

some sectors emerging where regular evaluation and improving employee

performance are more of a business strategy than a regular administrative task.

For the small and medium enterprises, which are gradually increasing their

exposure to information technology, this becomes more pronounced as the number

of people in the company grows. If, for instance, you are a 10-people company,

chances are you are both the business and HR head, and know every employee by

name. You are also probably the one who's hired them and are quite familiar

with their skills and performance. In such a scenario, doing an objective

performance appraisal and planning their training and careers is possible for a

one-man army like you. But, if you are ambitious and charting out a

200-percent-plus growth strategy, the number of people in your company is set to

grow at a rapid rate. Unless you plan for it now, you won't be able to cope

with what might hit you. On the other hand, if you've already grown to

100-plus and are finding it difficult to implement performance measurement

parameters, keep track of employee performance vis-à-vis key performance

parameters, effectively link compensation with performance-it's time you

turned to software for support.

Shyam Malhotra If you've grown to a 100-plus employees company and are finding it difficult to implement performance measurement parameters, it's time you turned to software for support

You may ask, why software? What if I add, say, two more HR

executives and divide the workforce between them? Won't they come cheaper than

going in for a full-blown automated HR information system (HRIS)? Besides, my

company has developed its own HR practices. Where will I find software that can

emulate my existing system? These are very valid and age-old questions. Every

organization will have to do its own analysis to find answers. But, eventually,

most will have to install an HRIS if they want to survive.

And the benefits go far beyond the routine applications.

Automated HR simplifies the people management process for greater profit by

regularly monitoring performance. It prompts for timely disbursement of employee

rewards vis-à-vis performance, and ensures that development plans are

implemented and measured. It can drastically cut down the hours the company

spends on tracking performance, benefits, and compensation. Technology can also

simplify your recruitment process by automatically sorting applications by

mapping skill sets. It can let you set up online recruitment test systems. For

instance, you might find out that a senior manager in your printing operations

department had, at some point in his career, worked with a BPO setup. And, so,

he is a good candidate to head the new outsourcing division you are setting up

for backend printing processes. Internal talent search like this is only

possible with the help of HRIS which brings up your peoples' career trees and

their competencies at the click of a mouse.

A survey on the relationship between business performance and

workforce performance management by the International Association for Human

Resource Information Management and consulting firm, Knowledge Infusion, found

this: 96% of the companies reported workforce performance management as their

top human capital management priority for 2005.

Is it time for a realignment check for Indian companies? Yes.

Investing in people increases both-the top line as well as the bottom line.